Bills Beat Blog

By Joe Buscaglia

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Bills top 20 talents: No. 12 - Fred Jackson

by Joe Buscaglia,posted Jul 11 2014 7:57AM

Along the offensive side of the ball, there haven’t been many other identifiable pieces to the puzzle than the man the comes in at number 12 on the top talents on the Buffalo Bills roster. While the team continued to try and replace him, the player just kept on with it and continued to carve his hard-nosed niche.

The countdown uses the trio of overall skill level, on the field results and projection to the future for the basis of where the players rank, the third of which is why player number 12 is a bit lower than expected. However, he has shown that he can still play at a high level and has been a fan favorite for several years.

HB Fred Jackson

Age: 33 (2/20/81)Height: 6’1”Weight: 216

Why he’s here:
- Over the past six seasons, no man has been more overlooked than Jackson. The team drafted two running backs in the first round only for Jackson to prove his worth each time and continue to be one of the most dependable players on the roster. His ability to not only absorb contact, but to keep his balance as well, has earned him the reputation of being able to gain tough yards every single time he’s on the field. In all his years, Jackson has had only one season that eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, which could come as a surprise to some fans that don’t check his stats regularly. Because of his age and the wear-and-tear that occurs to running backs over the course of time, the biggest negative for Jackson on this list is how he projects toward the future.

2014 outlook:
- Jackson will once again split time with C.J. Spiller in the backfield, but now the Bills added two other pieces at running back (Bryce Brown, Anthony Dixon) that could cut into the 33-year old’s snaps as well. He’s entering the final year of his contract with the team, but is a very important person to the locker room. Many of his younger teammates look up to him, and with quite a young core group of starters, the veteran presence Jackson provides is essential. Regardless, the question that will be asked once the season is over is how much Jackson has left in the tank as regular contributor. If he plays like he did in 2013, though, it will go far to prove that he has a bit more left.